This document describes the work of Niels Hendriks and the Social Spaces research group in Genk, Belgium. The multidisciplinary group conducts participatory design research projects focused on arts, culture, health, and media. One area of focus is designing with people who have dementia. The group develops low-tech digital and physical artifacts and methods for meaningfully involving people with dementia in the design process. Their approach aims to understand each person's unique experience and narrative. They share learnings through "method stories" that describe applying techniques in specific contexts rather than generalizable methods. Future work will explore balancing power and further applying their situated action approach.

1. Niels Hendriks
Copenhagen, 23.04.2015

2. Social Spaces I CUO
Media, Art & Design Research
Multidisciplinary team consisting of
criminologist, philosopher, ergonomic
expert, social scientists, literature scientist,
product designers, digital and game
designers, jewel designer, video and
storytelling artist, etc.
15 research/service projects;10 phd
Related to educational programs on product
design, digital design, film making,…
Affiliated with Centre for User Experience
Research (CUO) and LUCA

3. Social Spaces I CUO
Context of working
City of Genk (vicinity of Aachen, Maastricht)
Coal mines +1988 - Ford Factory +2014
C-mine,
Create new domains for employment in the
creative sector
Expected unemployment rate of 20%
High youth unemployment - Ethnic variety
Decentralized city structure
What is the role of an academic research and
design institute in such a context?

4. Social Spaces I CUO
Design of artefacts
(re)design of art- and design methods
Work in the domains of ‘Arts & Culture’,
‘Future Health’ & ‘Media & Entertainment’.
Exploration of the social character of
design, art and media in our society
Central to our way of working: participatory
design/ Scandinavian tradition
Lowering the barrier to participate in design
processes
“Situatedness”: to embed the design
process in the actual context

5. Working with persons with dementia
Way of working tries to ameliorate the life of persons with dementia
Research into methods on involving persons with dementia
Creation of low tech digital and physical artefacts

6. Dementia
Umbrella term – Aphasia, Amnesia, Agnosia, Appraxia; psychiatric & cognitive
ailments. Very individual trajectory

7. PD & Dementia
Traditional PD methods > Issues
assume that the participants are cognitively able, can make use of visual and
hands-on techniques; or require a high level ofabstraction ability.

8. Work so far
Guidelines
Challenges
AtHome: rethinking participation was set up

9. AtHome PD as a situated action.
Designer/researcher enters “the subjective world of the PwD” with an “understanding of
the narratives inwhich they (the persons with dementia) are embedded”
Script / Actors/ Props/ Stage

10. AtHome The way we define participation
PD > work context. / Jones: too strong a focus on the visual and the verbal
PD vs User Centered design?

11. AtHome From
group
to
individual,
generalisability
vs
transferrability.
Uniqueness
needs
individual
approach
Also
in
artefacts
>
generalisability
vs
transferrability

12. AtHome Method stories as a way to share methodologies.
Original Phd research – dedicated method for working with PwD <> uniqueness
Method stories: story on the application of a method in working in a participatory way
with PwD. Why > How.

13. Future research questions
? Suitability & transferrability of the situated action-approach > method stories
? Balancing power in PD? Materiality, temporality,…
Link with Give&Take-project

14. niels hendriks
niel@itu.dk
niels.hendriks@soc.kuleuven.be
http://www.socialspaces.be
http://www.dementialab.be
Most recent paper
Codesign with people living with
cognitive or sensory impairments:
a case for method stories and
uniqueness